Relentless Inquiry

Leo Babauta of the awesome Zen Habits blog has kicked off Blog Action Day with his 50 Simple Steps that anybody can do any day to be kinder and gentler to the environment. How many are part of your standard practice already?

1. Take a shorter shower.
2. Use a rag or hand towel instead of napkins or paper towels.
3. Don't print at least once today.
4. Carpool once this week.
5. Turn off the TV for an hour. [Was it on?! I doubt it!]
6. Turn off the lights when you leave the room (even for a little while). [Hey, I'm a New Englander who grew up in the 70's… does anybody NOT do this one?!]
7. Use a coffee mug instead of disposable (for takeout/coffeeshop) (Mostly, sometimes I forget to bring it!)
8. Use CFC light bulbs.
9. Skip the foil and plastic wrap for reusable food containers.
10. Inflate your tires.
11. Clean up (the beach, park, street, etc for a few minutes).
12. Talk to your kids about the environment.
13. Reuse printed paper.
14. Turn down your water heater to 130F.
15. Plant a tree.
16. Hang out your clothes. [SRC: ok, technically not, but I'm taking credit because– I read up on energy-saving appliances and found that apparently it's MUCH better over time to use the autodry cycle on your dryer instead of setting it manually to a time and resetting if stuff isn't dry enough; so now we do that. We're not f'ing allowed to have a clothesline here, apparently the yuppies might think “those people” had moved in if there were clotheslines. Grr.]
17. Buy a manual reel mower or electric mower. [SRC: Better yet, get rid of your lawn, and have a garden instead; we have almost all garden or fixed landscaping (eg, mulch and weedblock around plantings). Our tiny patch of lawn, 2 foot by 10 foot, is small enough to mow with an electric weed whacker.]
18. Get a low-flow shower head.
19. Lower your thermostats. [SRC: in the summer, yes; in the winter, not so much, as I'm asthmatic and studies show that one's chance of catching cold or flu go up statistically for every degree below 70F while you sleep. But we have an electric radiator for the bedroom to handle this, and keep the rest of the house chilly.]
20. Participate or organize a clean-up.
21. Avoid fast food.
22. Use acrylic paint (instead of oil-based).
23. Coat your roof.
24. Clean your filters.
25. Telecommute.
26. Wash clothes in cold water. [SRC: did you know that blood and other protein based stains come out in cold water but SET in warm/hot water?]
27. Get a low-flow toilet (or make one, by putting spacers in your tank or otherwise adjusting the amount used for flushing).
28. Buy recycled products.
29. Recycle.
30. Buy a smaller car.
31. Buy a smaller home.
32. Look for energy efficiency (in appliances).
33. Water grass early in the morning.
34. Plant shade trees near your house. [SRC: or, put up lattices and grow summer vines on them, like flowering scarlet runner beans, morning glories, ornamental hyacinth bean, climbing roses, etc. Runner beans or cherry tomatoes will give you a tasty bonus, as well as providing shade.]
35. Use rechargeable batteries.
36. Buy used.
37. Walk instead of drive.
38. Unplug appliances.
39. Unload your car of all that stuff you 'forgot'.
40. Try cycling.
41. Install a water filter. [SRC: instead of buying bottled water; the amount of fossil fuel used to move filtered water around, and to put plastic around it, is tragic and appalling.]
42. Use cloth shopping bags.
43. Mend your stuff.
44. Compost.
45. Try mass transit.
46. Buy in bulk.
47. Buy durable.
48. Use your oven less.
49. Join a local organization.
50. Join Blog Action Day. [SRC: here unofficially, and officially at My Bay Area Garden.]